The automotive editor

"We wanted to have a magazine that is different from what is available in the market,” says Adil Jal Darukhanawala, editor of Bike India, which is India’s first two-wheeler magazine, as also the newly launched Car India. "Both Bike India and its sister magazine Car India are being launched in the market simultaneously. We are sure that all bike and car enthusiasts will find the magazines engrossing and an absorbing read, in the process complementing each other,” noted Khushroo Bhadha on behalf of Next Gen Publishing Limited in the inaugural issue of Bike India (August 2005). An enterprise of the Fobes Group and HDFC Limited, Hoshang Billimoria is the CEO of Next Gen Publishing Limited.

As notes Darukhanawala in his editorial in the inaugural issue of Bike India, "We will aim to be the voice of the Indian bikes, a voice which is growing in audibility... It is the genuine thing and with your active participation we will make it the bible for bikers in not just India but all over Asia.” During the interview he refers to a tie up with a leading British publisher called EMAB... "We understand that the weight of expectation is great on us and that is important for us,” states the former editor of Overdrive who had his own magazine known as Car and Bike International prior to that.

The automotive aficionado remembers well his first foray into writing in 1975 when the London-Sydney rally passed through the Katraj Ghat in Poona en route to Madras in 1975. "A friend and I were present there two hours before the rally started. We were all prepared to take the best shot of the first car as it came. And what happened? Lo and behold two people came and parked exactly in front of us. We were livid and told them to move. They refused saying that they were the Press. In our argument one of the reporters challenged me that if I knew so much about cars then I should do an article on the rally. Charged at 19, we shot for three hours.” He then proceeded to the office of Pune Herald. "There I was with the best writers for the entire night, since typing and printing was a tedious job. To see my name in the newspaper was such a high. The paper received eight-10 letters stating that they liked the coverage of the rally. From then on I started writing. I would be called if there was any event related to motor racing,” he adds nostalgically.

The next year the Juhu races were held for the first time with some of the top names participating. He purchased a ticket and saw every race from the grandstand. That was when he promised himself that it would be the first and last time that he would pay for a ticket and stand in the grandstand. From next year onwards, he would be on the field, reporting.

During the eventful three years he spent at Telco, now known as Tata Motors, doing a technical course, Darukha­na­wala had learnt engineering and manufacturing and was "in the thick of things with people who made bikes.”

In his third year of apprenticeship, an old Rolls-Royce car that an architect had purchased from the Maharaja of Saurashtra had been brought to Telco. Experts came and wrongly identified the car as a Rolls-Royce Phantom while Darukhanawala insisted it was a Rolls-Royce 20. "There was massive rumbling within the division when they got Phantom parts which obviously didn’t fit the car. The chief then called up my residence and asked me for help along with proof that the car was a 20. I thought to myself that if that was the level of expertise then it was better for me to pursue this line,” he reasoned.

After completing his course at Telco Darukha­nawala did two years of specialized Tool Room training at Philips in Loni. Then he worked two years for SKF (manufacturers of bearings). He was a founder member of the Pune Automotive Racing Association which started the sport of motocross in India and got into event organization from 1980 onwards. Darukhanawala was also the youngest counselor on the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) management council for four years. Following the infighting among the members and his consequent resignation, Darukhana­wala decided to focus on his writing single-mindedly. In between he had occasionally written for Indian papers and a few foreign magazines.

Darukha­nawala (bottom and above left) with Billimoria at the launch of Bike India

In August 1986 along with three other partners he started a magazine known as Car and Bike International, which was launched in June 1987, and ran it till June 1998. "The magazine gave me a channel for self-expression, fulfilled the pronounced need for a car and bike magazine, satiated the thirst among enthusiasts, was enjoyable hard work and a learning experience about starting a magazine from scratch, its running and the pitfalls one encounters along the way,” he explains. In 1997 two of the four owners of Car and Bike International fell terminally ill and passed away within six months. Not wanting to continue with the magazine Darukhanawala joined Tata Donnelley Company and took to editing Overdrive.

"Within five months of its launch Overdrive became number one. It was a groundbreaker which changed the face of automotive writing. I was there in Overdrive for exactly seven years and seven days and learned about teamwork since 900 people were there and they could all be counted on for help. Overdrive was on a much larger scale and quantum than Car and Bike International,” says Darukhanawala. He then decided to move a step further in publishing and go for premium positioning.

On the personal front he had never thought of a girlfriend or wife till he earned and had his own house. "Car and Bike International was started when I was 31.” It was a 24-hour job but he was able to afford his own home in 1988 with the help of an HDFC loan. His wife Dinaz, whom he wed in 1991, he considers "a pillar of strength, the most strong-willed and flexible person I have seen. They have two sons, Jehan who is in the eighth standard and Kaizad who is in the third.

Referring to his own childhood Adil reminisces how his car and bike journey began when he was three or four years old. "My family hails from Sholapur and my surname literally means gunpowder manufacturer. Though my great-grandfathers had a gunpowder manufacturing business, my dad Jal and kaka (paternal uncle) were the only ones who did not follow the family business. Dad joined the Central Bank of India and had a 500cc Norton bike. I tend to think that this bike was responsible for me entering the field of cars and bikes. My dad’s friends who were in the automotive industry, like bike dealers, would come over to our place to show the latest models of the bikes. I could not ride them because I was small and would drop them. But I would touch and feel them. Automotive magazines from abroad like Motor, Sports Car Illustrated and guides which gave the knowhow of cars and bikes would come to our place. I would devour them. It was so important to me to know the why, how and what of cars and bikes,” he recounts.

Telling us about his schooling, he says that till the seventh standard he was in Sholapur in St Joseph’s. "Dad then got transferred to Poona. It was agonizing for him to leave Sholapur since he had his roots there. My mom Perin encouraged the decision. I did my eighth to 11th standard in the Rosary High School in Poona,” says Darukhanawala who considers the school instrumental in shaping him for what he is today. It taught him that no task is unachievable, made learning real fun for its students and gave him a good grounding in English.

Since he had an affinity for mechanical things, he did not want to join regular college. With a cousin in the merchant navy he was inspired to appear for the entrance exam for INS Dufferin, a ship on which the learning of the basic and finer nuances of the trade were imparted. With 30,000 applicants and 120 seats Darukha­na­wala stood second. "The next step was the physical test and my eyesight was a little short of their required criteria. But since I had done so well in the other tests, they told me that they would keep the seat open for me for four months. During this time I should take corrective action for my eyesight.” Being a voracious reader his eyesight never got a chance to improve. In retrospect he says, "It was a blessing in disguise though for a year I was distraught. Clichéd as it may sound, I believe that whatever happens, happens for the best.” He grudgingly trudged to Fergusson College for a year, saw friends without jobs and ultimately decided to opt for vocational training.

It is this technical background, hands-on experience and willingness to face challenges that have helped Daru­kha­na­wala to surge ahead and chart new courses.